Septic Safety

I was doing some reading around the web today on septic safety and ran across a website I wanted to share with you.

Believe it or not people can actually be killed for lack of safety or just plain old lack of knowledge.

Now, here in Southern Arizona this is not a major issue but I thought I would talk about three things that could be potential safety issues:

1. Septic manholes
2. Cesspools
3. Septic Repairs

The hazards of septic systems in Arizona are manole risers. In Pima County we are required to install risers to within 6" of final grade -- and many times these risers can be damaged if you are not careful.

A manhole riser can be 12" to 36" in height and they are easily crushed by driving over them -- never drive near your septic system as this could result in a collapse of your manhole riser and potentially result in a child or pet falling straight into the septic system. Check out this site and read some of the children who have actually died when this happened -- http://www.septicprotector.com/Deathpage.html

Cesspools are not very common for us in Pima County, but prior to the 1960's you might have had some systems installed in this way. A cesspool is an underground pit that was normally built with cinder blocks. Over many decades the cinder block can break down resulting in a collapse. Again, read the link above and you can read about this for yourself -- it is very scary stuff.

If you have an old cesspool call someone to come out and fill this in -- it is not worth someone dying over it.

Septic Repairs are necessary when the leach lines begin to fail, or the baffles inside the tank have disintegrated. This work should only be performed by a licensed contractor as there are many pitfalls here you may not be aware of.

Toxic fumes or trench collapse is the most common cause of injury or death when installing new leach fields. There are many areas in Pima County where the soil is so sandy that the new trenches being dug will cave in and bury a man alive. If you see that your septic system is more than two feet below the surface do not attempt to install a new leach field on your own.

If you have questions about your system you can call me and I will answer your question. You can reach me at 406-3871.

PS -- If you have a septic with a piece of plywood over the manhole get this repaired immediately. I have seen this on many jobs and this is a major safety issue -- think about it.

If you would like to visit my website check out http://www.tucsonsepticpumping.com